Patagonian Pinot

Patagonia. Howling wolves, wind-driven snow storms over a desolate landscape and survival of the fittest. That’s what I imagine Patagonia to be like, and I’m sure you can find that out there, but it’s not all Bear Grylls and Ironman. Valle Perdido is a new winery/spa resort in Patagonia that has recently started producing excellent wines. Penny Johns, manager of the Bluebird wine shop, recommended today’s vino to me. She says it’s one of her new favs and after gulping it down, I can say I wholeheartedly agree with her.

It’s another pinot noir from S. America but this time from the “right” side of the Andes, as the Argentines love to remind me. Argentina’s flagship grape is Malbec but if you scratch the surface of their viticultural portfolio, you’ll find that they are beginning to branch out into other varietals and doing a very good job of it.
Valle Perdido has a state of the art facility but their philosophy is to use as little intervention as possible and let nature take it’s course. They get up at the crack of dawn to pick the grapes and use a gravity system to move the must (or juice) around the winery. This helps to preserve the aromas and flavours of the wine.

The 2007 Pinot Noir was a pure delight from start to finish. Before we knew it, this little baby was gone, baby, gone. Looking at it, it was a clear, pomegrante red in the glass. A fresh, red fruit nose was the first thing I noticed. Then it evolved into perfumed raspberry and cherry scented aromas with a hint of sweet spice. Swishing it around my mouth, I found spicy red cherry, strawberry and a warm toastiness with a fruity finish. There was one last, lingering, bitter chocolate note that seemed to hang on by it’s fingertips before slipping away. The tannins were very soft, almost velvety which made for an easy drinking, medium bodied wine.

An impressive example of Patagonian pinot noir and for less then a tenner. In these credit crunchy times, it’s good to know you don’t have to scrimp on quality wine. Keep’em coming!